If you’ve been to Santorini, you know what I mean when I say I think this could possibly be the most beautiful place on Earth. The water is pristine blue and the cliffs rise hundreds of feet out of the sea. The white houses carved out of the rock make them look snow-capped. It’s just incredible.
We only had a total of 7 hours here which displeased everyone. But it was a glorious day, the sun was shining and it was fairly warm, a very welcome change from Russia and Ukraine. We had booked a tour called Crater Cruise and Hot Springs and we went from our ship, which was anchored out at sea, to a 16th-century-type motorized sailboat. There were only about 20 of us on the trip so we spread out over the boat to gaze at Santorini from the water as we sailed over to Nea Kameni, the volcano just 20 minutes from the island. We had a great guide, Maria, who hails from Budapest but lives in Greece. She led us up the steep volcano, all the way giving us a history of the area. Santorini was once an active volcano but a massive eruption in 1628BC blew it apart. It resulted in 4 separate islands but Santorini is really a single land mass and the watery separations are just places where the rim of the volcano is submerged. When we reached the largest crater at the top of the volcano, dubbed King George Crater, we could see that the volcano is still active; steam is coming from the floor and the rocks are hot to the touch. The view of Santorini from the top of the volcano is spectacular.
After the volcano hike, which took about 1 ½ hours, we boarded the boat for a short trip to the hot springs, where the most adventurous of us could swim. It turns out the hot springs aren’t really very hot at this time of year and to reach them you must swim a few hundred yards through water that is under 60 degrees. That left me out but Ed braved it and jumped right in. Ten of our fellow passengers took the plunge and each one uttered a different expletive as he (or she) came up out of the water. The rest of us were happy to be warm and dry but admired those who braved the elements.
We had just over two hours to explore Santorini after our tour. From where the boat let us off there are only three ways to get up to the town from the beach; cable car, donkey, or 588 steps. We really wanted to walk up but we just didn’t feel like we could take the time, so we took the cable car. The views from the top are magnificent. The town is just like I imagined a small Greek village would be; narrow cobblestone streets lined with shops and restaurants and small white houses with rounded windows. There were a lot of people there but it didn’t feel overly crowded. We walked for about an hour and then stopped for a drink at an outside café. As we sat there several of our friends came by and stopped to talk and show us what they had bought. It was a dreamlike afternoon and at 3:30 when we had to go back to the ship we were wishing we had another day here. This is definitely a place we would like to come back to.
We had a fun sail-away party on the back pool deck. There is something about being on European soil and being closer to our comfort zone that has everyone in a good mood. And we’re all looking forward with great gusto to spending two days in Venice.
We only had a total of 7 hours here which displeased everyone. But it was a glorious day, the sun was shining and it was fairly warm, a very welcome change from Russia and Ukraine. We had booked a tour called Crater Cruise and Hot Springs and we went from our ship, which was anchored out at sea, to a 16th-century-type motorized sailboat. There were only about 20 of us on the trip so we spread out over the boat to gaze at Santorini from the water as we sailed over to Nea Kameni, the volcano just 20 minutes from the island. We had a great guide, Maria, who hails from Budapest but lives in Greece. She led us up the steep volcano, all the way giving us a history of the area. Santorini was once an active volcano but a massive eruption in 1628BC blew it apart. It resulted in 4 separate islands but Santorini is really a single land mass and the watery separations are just places where the rim of the volcano is submerged. When we reached the largest crater at the top of the volcano, dubbed King George Crater, we could see that the volcano is still active; steam is coming from the floor and the rocks are hot to the touch. The view of Santorini from the top of the volcano is spectacular.
After the volcano hike, which took about 1 ½ hours, we boarded the boat for a short trip to the hot springs, where the most adventurous of us could swim. It turns out the hot springs aren’t really very hot at this time of year and to reach them you must swim a few hundred yards through water that is under 60 degrees. That left me out but Ed braved it and jumped right in. Ten of our fellow passengers took the plunge and each one uttered a different expletive as he (or she) came up out of the water. The rest of us were happy to be warm and dry but admired those who braved the elements.
We had just over two hours to explore Santorini after our tour. From where the boat let us off there are only three ways to get up to the town from the beach; cable car, donkey, or 588 steps. We really wanted to walk up but we just didn’t feel like we could take the time, so we took the cable car. The views from the top are magnificent. The town is just like I imagined a small Greek village would be; narrow cobblestone streets lined with shops and restaurants and small white houses with rounded windows. There were a lot of people there but it didn’t feel overly crowded. We walked for about an hour and then stopped for a drink at an outside café. As we sat there several of our friends came by and stopped to talk and show us what they had bought. It was a dreamlike afternoon and at 3:30 when we had to go back to the ship we were wishing we had another day here. This is definitely a place we would like to come back to.
We had a fun sail-away party on the back pool deck. There is something about being on European soil and being closer to our comfort zone that has everyone in a good mood. And we’re all looking forward with great gusto to spending two days in Venice.
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